The Struggle of Progress
by Redoe
Summary: Rated M mainly for violence and possible gore. This is an alternate world of Naruto, Taking place during the growth after the 4th Great Shinobi War, during the progressive period within the Naruto World. All characters follow the setting and already present information Naruto gives us, but you will rarely see the characters appear within the story. Have fun!
1. Chapter 1: Meet Squad 4 of the Mist

The thick fog covering Kirigakure was more than usual on this summer day. The village itself was starting to thrive compared to how it used to, and the development politically has finally been balanced for all Shinobi's. Within the village's academy, out rushes a girl with long black hair and ice blue eyes apologizing to the students. Rushing through the fog, almost like it's a dance too familiar to her, she makes her way even farther east.

"Mio! Just where are you going in such a hurry? Did Seijitora go on some sort of rampage?!" joking suggests a local farmer passing into her. The girl angrily turns towards him and barks back at him, "How dare you even joke like that! He is the most harmless nin in our village! His bravery is more than enough to deserve your respect!" The man stops abruptly from the harsh words, seeing nothing but the trial of her movement within the fog.

Mio finds herself at the shore of the mainland of Kirigakure. The fog at its most dense, she smiles, sits in the sand, and hums to herself playfully. Two figures begin to take form after a few minutes, and a big smile comes across her face. Out of the mist come two tall male ninjas. Both towering over six feet tall; the humorous part of it was how hard both were to stick out. One boy had orange hair, long enough to cover his entire face, however the only visible parts of his actual body were his head and below his knees. The boy sadly had thick chains around his body with sealing marks covering most of the metal.

The other was not as tall, but he was mostly a puff of white fur. With loose black cloths, no actual ninja tools in sight, and where his head is has several masks as part of the fur that covered most of his body. The silence broke as the boy with orange hair happily saw Mio waiting for them. He begins to run on the water, gaining speed as he is getting closer to her. Her face begins to worry as she can notice his face slowly turn to a dark gray color, but the smile on her face charmed her so well originally. The boy finally reaches the shore and throws both legs into the sand to stop. Mio, ready to hug him hello, face begins to show dread. "Seiji! Please calm down! I don't want to see you get in trouble!" she screams at him.

Laughing playfully he accidentally trips and begins to roll, passing both Mio and the entire beach. Mio laughingly goes to make sure he is alright. Using the fog, you see her forms seals for a jutsu, an ice mirror forms, and like a magnet she flies towards it. Emerging out of it, the ice shatters, and she bends down to check on him. His skin color returns to normal, and a shadow towers over her and Seiji. "And just what do my cute little ninja teammates think they're up to on such a clear day as this one?" Mio blushes and turns to stick her tongue out her sensei, "Hello Ramos-sempai, and what clear day? The fog can't all be Kurokano…..can it?"

Their sensei chuckles and releases the Genjutsu that their companion was using on everyone in the village. The fog clears and the sun actually begins to shine, as bright as it gets in Kirigakure, and Mio and Seijitora's face disappointingly look down. Their eyes meet and they begin to smile and eventually laugh. An upset scream is soon followed as the masked boy scares their sensei and he is scolded. "There's no need to do that Kurokano, you little shit! You know better! Damn water spirit…" she barks at him.

He only tilts his head slightly to the right and then spins his mask. The fur fluffs for a moment and an angrier looking Oni is seen. "Alright you prized little potatoes. We have an important mission. I see that all your gear is ready, and we need to investigate the Konohagakure!" Mio confusingly asks, "What for? We're in a time of peace and prosperity. The 4th Shinobi war has been over for nearly ten years, and right now is a matter more of sharing all lands economic resources with each other. Ninja missions at this point are to appease and assassinate lords from all of the lands. All Kage are even friends from battle, what need is there for investigation over the simple little leaf village in the first place?" Her sensei, once again, sighs at the response from her squad member.

"Although you are right about that, there have been a lot of unanswered questions about population growth. We are one of the minor countries in terms of land compared to places like Iwagakure or Konohagakure. We have to make do with the resources of our current population, and we are progressing, just not slow enough to build properly." Mio's sight trails off and a sigh is let out.

Seijitora can see the frustration in Mio's disappointed face. He softly speaks up to his comrades saying, "You know…..if it weren't for these kinds of details being overlooked, we could all live in such a happier place. Why is it important about who gets the most or where you're from? Why can't we all just happily live together?" Mio and their sensei's faces drop in amazement at the actual intelligent thing Seijitora said, and even Kurokano switches his mask to a sad Oni. Kurokano actually comes up behind Seijitora and hugs him. "WOAH WOAH WOAH!" screams Ramos-sensei.

"Both of you need to calm down. This isn't an investigation to start another war or anything in particular. If anything we might find a bunch of supplies ready for our village! Let's stop all the ninja love before the waterworks start. Remember the last time you all got me to cry?" The squad, in unison, trails off in thought to the day that they all became Chūnin, and when Mio had finally achieved the rank of Tokubetsu Jōnin. Ramos-sensei is a specialist in water based jutsu. Her tears had nearly caused a flood each time.

The team itself all chuckle at the good times they've all had growing as ninja squad 4 of Kirigakure. Seijitora slowly gets up and smiles at Mio, almost telling her, "Let's get going then." She grabs his chains and uses him as a way to get up and finally gives him the hug hello he had been waiting for. His entire face turns bright red and she smiles.

Their eyes meet before Ramos-sensei puts her hand in-between the too saying, "Alright, we get it. You like each other. Date or something, but not on my time, eh?" Both Mio and Seijitora blush and separate at a considerable distance, using Ramos-sensei as a wall, only their eyes meeting as they're smiling. They all walk away from the shore, heading west towards their mission location.

Kurokano, almost looking puzzled again, tilts his head and a low toned mumble begins. He turns his masks once again, makes a seal, and lets the fog overtake the island once more. He looks over his shoulder one last time at the shore, almost feeling as though they were being watched. He gives an approving nod, and begins to follow his fellow squad members.

For the mission, and the story, all start from here.


	2. Chapter 2: Wagers and Rude People

The sun was high, and the village had seemed pretty peaceful. Near the Hokage memorial was a man sitting in loose fitted clothing. He had a long Kiseru(about two feet long) and long brown hair. Yawning at the mid day nap he had taken; he relights his Kiseru with a match and picks up his circular glasses to put back on his face. Scratching his head, the Jōnin is greeted by a ninja hailing from the Land of Wind. "Well it seems like you're lax as ever." The ninja states to him. He gives an interested yet annoyed look at him, knowing he has a mission or direct order from his superiors to answer to. He sighs and says, "Well it looks like it wasn't gonna be a lazy day anyway. Why can't a man just enjoy the history behind the six Hokage heads and just love the spring day we're having?" The Sand ninja chuckles and agrees.

"Kuriame! We need to go get Indigo! It's time for the weekly meet up of our squad!"

"SHUTTAP! It's alright if you wanna see your _GIRLFRIEND_ ~ so badly, but I have important things to do! I don't really care for what our squad leader wants us to do for "Building comradeship," and all that junk. Right now there's a great day and a gallon of water at my disposal, and much of the window shopping at sharp ninja tools to be seen here!"

"Well I guess the sun is pretty out….but if you wanna be late and make ol' Smoky-sensei wait, then don't expect sympathy from anyone."

It was another usual mid week encounter with squad 7 of their graduating class; Kuriame Hozuki, passionately and intensely arguing against their class genius, Akira Hatake. Both brilliant Chūnin, however they hate to admit their friendship fully. He mumbles some sort of philosophy about a bright spring day and ventures in the opposite direction of Kuriame. She pays no mind to him leaving until she notices her water jug missing. She chuckles and pulls out a water bottle to drink, mumbling under her breathe, "Baka."

Akira continues to walk until he finds himself in the rich district of Konohagakure. There he waits by the gate, and begins to play with his kunai. He enjoys the passing birds until he hears a loud crash from inside the property. He kicks off from leaning against the gate and flips over to the top of the gate. A kunai is tossed at him, he catches two. "Well I'm glad my granddaughter is in the hands of someone capable; even if you're left over experiment of the Leaf." barks an old woman at him. He angrily tosses the kunai back at the feet of the old woman. Akira smiles and says, "Why hello lady Hanabi. I'm glad you praise me with such words of encouragement towards being partnered with your granddaughter." Before Hanabi responds, Indigo shyly passes her grandmother.

Both of their faces change instantly, only smiling as they both greet Indigo. She blushes and bows to her grandmother to say goodbye. She grabs her hand and praises her a bit as she points towards the other side of the house where she had just made a crater. "I see you've gotten better at the finishing strike in your gentle fist! I can't wait to see you surpass your father as the current head of the main branch. It's all thanks to your training here, not to your team or your lazy loaf of a sensei you have." Indigo gives a disappointing face at the lack of credit she gives her squad members and before she tries to protest against them, her grandmother already finds herself back inside for a cup of tea.

She embarrassingly apologizes to Akira for the rudeness of her grandmother, but quietly enough to not let her actually hear it. Both giggle at the strong willed old woman, and continue on their way out. They continue to the famous ramen shop that the legendary ninja Naruto would often go to. There they find Kuriame waiting outside the shop, angrily tapping her foot and playing with her hair. When they are in eye shot she begins to greet them by yelling their names and waving. Akira sighs by the obnoxiousness she is presenting, while Indigo only laughs at the joy of seeing her squad together.

Akira reaches the shop first and is about to enter the shop without even acknowledging Kuriame, but is sadly stopped and pulled out of the shop and thrown to the ground outside. "DON'T PLAY DUMB GRUNGLETOAD! GIVE ME BACK MY WATER!" Kuriame screams at him. He chuckles on the ground and a poof of smoke appears. Where his body was are chopsticks from inside the store. In front of Kuriame falls the gallon of water, nearly hitting her. Indigo looks up to see the shining spiky silver hair gleam in the bright sun. She blushes as Kuriame can't help but feel the same, mumbling, "Thank you," under her breath. He flips back down to land directly in the middle of them, as they all enter the shop together.

Several bowls of ramen later….

They all pile out of the small shop, bellies full and happy that they all got to spend time together. They all agree to head to the famous training grounds to have a simple walk down memory lane. It's been years since they had all pasted the Chūnin exams. Their sensei had purposefully made them take the exams right away, and didn't expect any to actually pass. He happily rewarded them with an upper cartilage piercing on their right; the jewelry was of the Konohagakure symbol.

They had been expecting to meet up with their sensei soon, and weren't surprised that they would have to wait or find him to actually get the next mission. On their walk to the training grounds there was a lot of Kuriame arguing with Akira, who was purposefully acting aloof but giving witty remarks. Indigo was simply smiling amongst her beloved comrades, happy that they were able to stick together even after becoming graduated Shinobi of their village. Upon arriving at the training grounds, Akira instinctively went up to the memorial stone to scout for Sakumo Hatake's name.

Indigo shyly approaches behind him and apologizes once more for her grandmother's remark. "You know….it doesn't matter if you actually have parents or not. You are still an amazing Shinobi. It doesn't matter what others think, because you are still an amazing ninja….and a more amazing comrade…" says Indigo as her face begins to turn bright red. Kuriame agrees with an affirming pat on the back and changes the subject, "You know, these training grounds as a Genin were fun. Don't you remember Ol' Smoky with the bells?" Akira looks up and smiles retorting with, "Yeah I do! I remember how you tried to offer me as a sacrifice and tried to eat his lunch as we fought for the bells." Kuriame blushes and agrees. Indigo interjects with,

"Well….I wasn't nearly as much help at that time as you were. Trying to fight him head on was a mistake, but then I found my love and talent for setting traps and doing more stealthy type of approaching problems as a Shinobi!"

"Not to be rude, but traps and ambushing is more our type of thing." says a voice from a different direction. All of squad 7 turns towards a tree off to the side. There they see a beautiful girl with long her and a very strange sword on her back, and hanging on the branch that they're on is a boy chained to the brim. His face emotionless, and hers smiling, they both approach squad 7. Kuriame instantly realizes the sword on the girls back and barks back, "Just what do Mist ninja think they're doing in this part of Konohagakure? What's more, why is a Ninja of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist casually visiting such a place in a time of peace? YOU LOT SHOULD BE…." Until all of squad 7 falls asleep.

From behind them walks a tall, skinny, boy with massive white fur covering his body. He shifts his masks once again and waves towards his companions. All of a sudden all three Mist ninja see four kunai land in a square around them with something tied to them, and they all begin to be shot up into the sky as a thick smoke surrounds them. "You know, that was very rude from both parties. If you say it's a time of peace, theres no need to be hostile towards them…..KURIAME!" All three leaf ninja awake to see their sensei glaring down at them in slight anger and disappointment.

"Alright, now when they get back down you're not only gonna apologize that I stepped in, but also for you absolute rudeness towards them. Understand me?" says Smoky-sensei. All three ninja look ashamed at the ground, but Kuriame spouts back, "BUT! THEY STARTED IT! THEY SAID AMBUSHING WAS THEIR THING! AND A ONE OF THE SEVEN SWORDSMEN OF THE BLOODY MIST IS HERE! WHAT IN JELLYBEANS NAME IS THAT HORSESHIT!?" Smoky sighs and exhales a large amount of smoke at Kuriame. "Are you sure they are? If she was, she wouldn't have fallen for the simple trap that I placed instantly as they all gathered. Maybe she doesn't know of them but holds the relic of it? Use your head, you're better than this." He says back. She shows an even more ashamed face by her actions as the mist ninja begin to land. The girl and chained boy land quickly as the jutsu ends.

Neither looks happy, but also don't pull out any weapons. The third one is nowhere in sight. Smoky chuckles and nudges his ninja team forward. Indigo steps forward, "I'm terribly sorry for the rudeness that we committed. Kuriame was upset by that sword, and we hold a lot of pride in our abilities. My name is Indigo Hyuuga, this boy is Akira Hatake, and my friend here is Kuriame Hozuki. We humbly request you accept our apology, and take our new warm greeting towards you."

The girl smiles and greets them back warmly. "Hello, My name is Mio Kimihime, it's a pleasure. This guy right here is one of my best friends Seijitora Zen, and the nomadic ninja is Kurokano Kurama. Both of these guys are very shy, but Kurokano is extremely shy. It's rare he even is seen by anyone outside the vill…" as Mio is interrupted, "YOU WORTHLESS POTATOS! WHY ARE YOU BEING SO RUDE TO A VILLAGE YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN IN BEFORE!" screams Ramos-sensei as she forces Seijitora to bow in apology. His head hits the ground and she nearly buries him as she slams his head continuously into the ground.

Mio laughs slightly and blows a few times before stopping. Smoky laughs and greets Ramos happily. "Welcome to Konohagakure! I'm the Smoking Wing Sage, at your service! I also can't help but be curious, but did you say Kurokano? He's famous around the Land of Fire for being a fairy tale water spirit in your village! That's quite an impressive team of elite ninja you have here!" Ramos laughs in response blowing all Smoky's praise away saying, "Not really. They're all just normal Chūnin of the Mist. The REAL ninja to praise is our little princess here! She's actually the rank of Tokubetsu Jōnin! She's the talent of the team by far! Hahahaha!" Squad 7 all look at each other in confusion, trying to confirm the level of favoritism that Mio seems to have from her sensei.

"But I would like to ask for a favor! Can you direct us to the Hokage's building please? We have a simple C-ranked mission to complete with them." asks Ramos-sensei. Smoky happily agrees to help them out, but asks for a wager, "That won't be a problem, but may I ask a favor of a dual amongst our little teams here? Sure they're higher ranked Shinobi, but let's let them grow a rivalry between Villages to increase comradeship? Plus we can watch!" Smoky offers excitingly. Ramos agrees excitingly to show off Mio. All of squad 7 and 4 face palm at the feeling of truly being play toys to their seniors.


	3. Chapter 3: Failure to See the Underneath

Smoky-sensei lights a match and beings to smoke his freshly packed Kiseru. Ramos sits next to him on one of the three posts of the training grounds. Smoky motions towards Akira and then points to Mio while taking a drag. Ramos realizes the match up he makes and claps in agreement. "Yes! Let us watch the number one pupils face off to start it!" she says excitingly. Akira gives a sigh of annoyance and walks towards the center of the field. Mio smiles happily as Seijitora wishes her luck. She only grins big and puts her thumb up. Smokey tells them to start at the end of the wind blowing. Both nod accordingly, and await the signal to start.

The tension holds high as Indigo, Seijitora, and Kuriame all sit seiza, shoulder to shoulder, on edge at the combat to come. The wind stops and Akira makes the first move by throwing a kunai at Mio. She back flips throwing a needle at the kunai. She forms a seal, "Water release, Hidden Mist No Jutsu" Mio whispers. A thick fog overtakes the training grounds a female scream is heard. Ramos-sensei creates a seal and puts the already ill tempered Seijitora to sleep.

"Sorry, but no shmuck. It's simple to have a kunai follow the shadow of another. Aren't you better than this?" Akira taunts towards the thick mist. Feeling a chill from behind, he starts forming seals and drops to the ground. A block of ice shaped as Mio cracks and crumbles to the ground. Akira uses his earth style mastery to find where Mio was hiding. "Alright, well I found the sensei's, the one mist boy, and my squad….Now where is…." Just then he feels the dirt around him freeze. Trapped in a block of frozen direct, he is lifted from the ground by Mio, who simply smiles at him. He hears a whisper through the ice, "be good and give up now." His eyes feel sheer terror for a second. He forcibly breaks his middle toes, excluding his big and pinky toe to maintain his balance, and breaks the fear with pain.

Mio notices a temperature difference and drops the cube of ice. The center glows bright orange as it shatters hitting the ground. Akira, covered in flames, shows off his chakra nature of fire. His eyes angry, he seeks Mio with absolute intent to end the fight right then and there. All of a sudden, a thick icicle passes his neck and implants into the ground. Realizing his possible death he begins to anticipate the next icicle coming to find more ice needles flying at him almost corning him back to the initial icicle. Realizing the game she is playing he starts using seals, "Earth Release, Boulder Bunker" What looks almost like a hollow boulder flies over the crouching Akira.

"Think damnit! THINK! The damn witch is of the Mist ninja, she is at an absolute advantage having created that fog. But the biggest thing is I didn't notice when she had used Kawarimi no Jutsu with what I think was an ice clone…..I didn't know they made those….Unless she has a Kekkei Genkai….damnit! I don't have time for this. I'll have to use Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique on her….Now I just need to get some kind of scent off of her….maybe if I get a needle….that'll have to do! I'll send an earth Clone from the ground and capture the needle and summon the dogs to track the scent!"

Akira follows his plan as the clone emerges from the ground right next to the initial icicle. The clone searches for a needle on the ground when he reaches out towards one slowly as seven more icicles perfectly circle around his head; trapping him to the ground. He struggles to break free as he see's Mio slowly walk up, "I told you, just give up. Now I get to take you apart, and sew you back up." She grins sadistically, "But I would never kill you. I only want to practice understanding the human body. I do have a weakness for Medical ninjutsu, and you deserve a little payback of the dirty look you gave my squad. Hope you're ready." The clone looks terrified as five minutes pass and partial pain is transferred to Akira. He keeps his sounds of agony silent until she is done. As she walks away she hears, "Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique! You're finished you crazy BITCH!" Akira screams. What look as much as a dozen dogs approach her from the ground, and pin her still.

Akira emerges slowly from the ground, ready to return the payback for the torturous pain that she inflicted on him. "Now it's your turn." He quietly says to himself. She struggles vigorously trying to break free, terrified of the burns about to reach her, with no hope Akira slashes her face with a Kunai with a horizontal slash and follows up to scar the entire left side of her body with a vertical slash starting with her left shoulder. His eyes still looking unsatisfied with the blood coughing Mio, "Since you're an ice user, it's easy for me to counter you with this, DIE BLOODY MIST NINJA!" He gathers his chakra and creates five seals,

"Fire Release, Grand Hell Inferno" Flames begin to burst off of him, circling around him, until finally they explode with a radius of 15 yards. Akira's face is dumbfounded as he releases what he was trapped in the entire time. A large sphere of ice had been enveloped around him from the begging. The ice shatters around him and Mio nowhere to be found, he assumes that he might've accidentally killed her. He looks at the two Jounin and scratches head in apology. "I may have gone a bit overboard…" he says.

While scratching his head; Mio slowly and silently emerges from a piece of the shattered ice. Both Jounin begin to laugh absurdly as Nuibari is seen around his neck, and he notices the kunai in his stomach. Akira's face pales in disbelief. Mio drops Nuibari and puts the kunai away. Mio walks slowly towards Seijitora to wake him up. Akira shivers by the still constant chill in his spine as he looks in the direction of Mio. Kuriame and Indigo are puzzled by what had actually happened within the foggy ice sphere. Mio kneels down and seiza and puts Seijitora's head on her lap. The string to Nuibari is pulled and the blade cuts Akira's left cheek. The sword plants itself beside Mio as she lets Seijitora sleep on her lap. She looks straight at him and says, "I forfeit."

Akira falls on his ass, in total shock of what had actually happened. Ramos-sensei, looking very pleased with Mio, is still laughing at the outcome. Smoky is looking very concerning at the display of Jutsu. You can tell he is troubled with the display of silent killing still prominent within the Mist village, "….what's more that the Yuki clan hadn't actually died out yet. They really are a terrifying clan, with a Kekkai Genkai that even I would have trouble with if I fell into their trap….now what do they want with the Hokage….?" He thinks to himself. Ramos screams at Seijitora to wake up. He looks confused, "Am I….going to actually fight….or am I gonna run around…..?"

"No, you're going to fight. No matter what happened, we still lost the first match by forfeit, even though we kinda know who won…..REGRETFUL AS THAT MAY BE! GET THAT POTATO BUTT IN THE RING!" she barks back. She forms a release seal and sticks her hard out all fingers pointed at Seijitora. Water begins to shoot out and pierce the chains. The water pierces at five points around his heart and the chains fall. Seijitora stretches his arms and walks to the center smiling with slight malice.

Mio worriedly warns him to be careful and he winks in response. She gives a reassuring smile, but still showed a little worried. Out of the leaf Shinobi Kuriame, ready for revenge, stands up with her fist in the air and the burning rage for rivalry can be seen in her eyes. "AND NOW ITS MY….." she screams before being interrupted with a massive cloud of smoke in her eyes. Smoky points at Indigo, "You need to fight this one. Let's be smart about this. Kuriame would be crushed by his powers." Ramos surprised and worriedly looks at Smoky. Indigo firmly nods understandably at how serious Smoky ordered her to fight. She stands and brushes off her pants.

She walks to the center and already begins to analyze her opponent. "This guy must have some sort of jutsu he can't control, that's why he was in the chains. I'm going to have to make the first move and press my advantage to keep ahead of him. Would it be smart to start with Twin Lion? Or use the 64 palm strike and prepare rotation the protection half of the 64 palms…..either way, I should be able to win this if I stay ahead of him." The concentration from Indigo's train of thought only seems as though a taught to Seijitora as Ramos-sensei shouts, "BEGIN!"


	4. Chapter 4: The Monsters of the Mist

Seijitora's skin begins to change color to a pale grey and Indigo rushes forward realizing that she can't allow Seijitora freedom. "I'm sorry; Seiji-chan, but I can't allow this! Too bad for you, but you're in my 8 Trigrams!" Within a blink of an eye she performs 8 Trigrams 64 Palms. Seijitora falls to his knee's as Indigo glares down at him with Byakugan. Kuriame chuckles spouting, "It seems like the rest of the team is for show." cockily shouting towards Mio. Kuriame is shocked by not only being ignored, but the worried face Mio is presenting seems unphased. Kuriame's face changes as she realizes that the fight was long from over. Indigo leaps back 10 yards at Seijitora not only getting up, but his body almost looks as though it has mutated.

His elbows had three cylinders grown out of his weenus, his hands grown to three times the size, his knuckles now having holes, his shoulders broadened, and his eyes turned yellow. What looks like mini turbines are protruding out of his calves and he charges towards Indigo. The sight of his transformation alarms and frightens her. "Stay calm, I already know I sealed his body once. I just need to properly engage him with the gentle fist until he can no longer move." she assures herself calmly as she dodges the incoming punch. The fist hits the ground and the cylinders compress inwards. A shockwave creates a small earthquake as a crater is made. She understands now what his arms have been remade into.

She engages to counter but Seijitora's back shoots out several needles towards her. "Protection 8 Trigrams 64 Palms!" the barrier blocks all needles and a sigh of relief can be felt off of her. On guard the next attack follows up as both fists try to smash on top of her. She barely dodges and is able to hit several points into his ribs from his hip up to his armpit. His left arm is starting to feel the effects as Indigo notices it twitching.

Several fists fly at her, while she gracefully dodges them and continues her assault. The controlled danger goes on for about another ten minutes as both are beginning to become winded. The malice in his eyes grows as they begin to glow more bright yellow. His body begins to morph his now useless left side; seeing the opening, Indigo advances quickly to perform Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms. Seijitora's body flies like a windmill, but recovers by using the calf turbines and slamming his right fist into the ground. The cylinder in his left arm is now gone, being replaced by his entire arm, from the elbow up, now a large blade.

Indigo presses her advantage with his landing, moving in with the intent to end this soon. Before she is within eight yards of him, the blade is flung at her face, total intent to kill behind it. Cutting a few flying hairs, she barely dodges by sliding on her knees. Smoky's concern grows profusely at the opening she now has. As soon as the blade clears her field of vision, Seijitora's fist becomes in full view, aiming straight down to crush Indigo. Seconds before it makes contact Indigo performs rotation, while in seiza and blocks the incoming attack as it twists and bounces off. Smoky, already stating and ready to jump in looks at Ramos, who is already at the ready to re-seal Seijitora to the chains.

Both sit down in relief for the safety of Indigo. The rotation still going, Indigo breaks the chakra sphere around her the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists; aiming one at his face, the other at his stomach. Seijitora coughs blood as the mutations begin to recede. As his skin begins to show all his chakra points are at the point of bleeding from being pressed so many times. He falls to his knees as the chains fly back to reseal him. Indigo had won the match unquestionably.

Mio runs to comfort and Seijitora, near tears running down her face. Indigo glares one final time at the monster she had truly fought, "If I had made even one mistake during that battle I very easily would've died." She thought to herself, reviewing what the battle millisecond by millisecond. Mio lets his head rest on her lap as she pets his head and Kurkano surprisingly shows up to take off his shoes, and begins to hit the bottoms of his feet. Within two minutes he wakes up to have no memory after the second mutation. Mio lets out tears of joy at the alright Seijitora, who has already starting to recover from the fierce beating of the gentle fist.

He struggles to speak, quietly saying, "Thank you….Indigo. You are one of the few people to not show fear from my true form. This was a friendly reminder of how lucky I am to work with my team that covers my battle weakness…." he falls asleep and Mio kisses his forehead. Kuriame and Akira help Mio and Kurokano drag the heavy Seijitora back to sit with the Sensei's. He is propped up leaning against a training post. Kurokano approaches the technical fighting area and looks at Kuriame.

Ready to go, she jumps up and runs to face him. Smoky laughs at the ironic match up. Both Shinobi are known for the opposing village and yet they fight on opposite sides.

Kuriame takes a sip of her water and tosses the empty bottle to the side. Kurokano spins his head once more and a slight mumble can be heard. Kuriame leans in to listen but any speech Kurokano was saying is inaudible. Within a few seconds she gets upset at what she thinks is him taunting her. She digs her foot into the ground in order to be ready to fly at Kurokano. Smoky sighs at the obvious answer to this fight, and gives the signal to begin.

Kuriame charges in pulling out several kunai on a string from her sleeve and swings all sharpened kunai at Kurokano. The kunai's pass through Kurokano, almost as if he was a cloud of mist. Kuriame quickly concentrates to perform Genjutsu Kai, and surprisingly is able to break free. Kuriame regains consciousness to see her curled up into a ball, tears down her face, and half of her form already dissipated into water. She snaps back into battle mode as she reforms her body into solid form. The only main difference she can see from Kurokano is his mask changed into a different Oni.

She barks in confidence at the now sad looking Oni, "You upset I can get of your Genjutsu? I'm no idiot; I know what clan you're from. I WONT LOSE!" Kuriame using a few quick seals and a back flip for distance from Kurokano, "Water Release, Heavy Rain Arena!" After a few seconds, clouds form directly over the training grounds. Heavy rain downpours over the Ninja now as Kuriame's face assures her confidence in victory. "Damnit….I have a headache from this weird looking guy messin' around constantly in my head. But now it's time to truly get this fucking bloody mist bastard!" she analyzes to herself. But as she charges at Kurokano, she notices the seals for Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu, and stops.

She notices about twenty or so new clones. "Mizudeppō: Nichō(Water Gun: Two Guns)" Kuriame screams as she blasts all clones. They all liquefy and drop, with Kurokano nowhere to be seen. Kuriame begins to panic as she notices more water clones growing from the ground. She continues to fire her Kekkai Genkai, but as they all dodge them she realizes that they're all of her comrades and friends from the village. From the mass all she can hear are the slew of questions. "Why would you shoot us? Do we mean nothing from you?"

"Is it truly safe to trust someone of the Hōzuki clan?"

"What sort of freak are you anyway?" the questions go on for a few moments as Kuriame slowly sinks down and begins to cry. Finally what seems like she snaps, she begins to go off in a rage and attack each and every one of them; knowing who they are but her body moving as though they were her enemies with intent to kill her. More tears roll down her face as she fails to gain control of her body. Memories of her life and traumas of her life all flash before her eyes. She almost relives every moment that ever made her feel sad or upset in a single moment.

This hell that Kuriame felt ends instantly as she is what seems like awaken with Smoky staring at her. Her body is most a puddle with only half of her head left in solid form. His hands are pouring chakra to release her from whatever Genjutsu. Once she regains control her body reforms to find Smoky's hands placed over hear breasts; the accident that happens results in Smoky flying back twenty feet. The now embarrassed Kuriame stands firmly and confidently as she brushes off the dirt. She then is hit back with all the Genjutsu effects. Her reaction is to only curl up into a ball and cry silently to herself.

Akira angrily rushes towards Kurokano, he goes to grip his mask and rip it straight off, but the body there was nothing more than a water clone. He threatens to Seijitora, avoiding all eye contact with Mio, to tell him what Kurokano had done Kuriame. He explains that the Kurama Clan specialty was Genjutsu, and that Kurokano had actually combined several Genjutsu's together to truly terrify and torture his victims. Akira questions if he knew what they were specifically so that she can receive proper treatment.

Seijitora sighs but understands that the one who truly went overboard in all this would be the _Dark Water God of the Mist_. He goes on to explain the genjutsu's are, Chakra Ghost Technique, Demonic Illusion: Double False Surroundings Technique, Illusionary Mist, and finally Soulbane. Akira's eyes widen at the use of such terrible Genjutsu's, remembering that the only village to forbid Soulbane Genjutsu was Konohagakure.

Akira and Indigo are told to stop the hostilities since it was his idea. He approaches them, fresh handprint still burning off of his face, and tells them to take Kuriame to a medical ninja to perform a memory forgetting jutsu. They would have to approach the Hokage more than likely to get permission and identification of someone who can use the jutsu. They respectfully and happily take his orders, only concerned for the health of Kuriame at this point.

Ramos apologizes to them and Smoky sincerely. He stops her midway and affirms all blame. "I was the one to propose this after all. It's no big deal; no one was killed, so there won't be any problems. Now then, would you like me to escort you to the Hokage personally?" he asks. She nods politely and orders all three mist ninja to return to the gate of the village, and to stay put there. Mio affirms that they'll follow the order entirely and she will make sure that the other two will. Ramos and Smoky walk casually to the Hokage. The topics varied from old war stories and the times that had met on the battlefield, whether it was opposing or allied.

After finally reaching the Hokage's main building he informed a Jounin the purpose of the visit and left Ramos in their care. Thankful, she says goodbye and is escorted through the building. Finally, she is allowed to converse with the Hokage and is left in a meeting. Within two minutes The Hokage walks in and sits across from her. "Hello Hokage, I'm sorry for any trouble my visit may have caused. But the Mizukage and the Land of Water has….." but she is interrupted by the Hokage.

"Hold on. Let's have start from the beginning. My name is Kakashi, but calling me just Hokage-SEMPAI would be alright. Also, I've been stockpiling for your village for about two years now. So what is it that you want with my village again?"


	5. Chapter 5: Rough Resolution

The ninja guarding the entrance to Sunagakure couldn't help but notice the massive traveling cloud approaching. They send word the Kazekage and prepare themselves. As soon as the cloud becomes in shouting distance the guards bark to identify themselves. Nothing is said as the cloud only moves closer slowly. Fear gathers on their face as it seems as if a bad omen was coming. Before the smoke was within throwing distance of a kunai, a massive gust of wind passes the guards and exits the detection barrier.

The smoke is blown away to reveal a long haired man with circle glasses with the Konohagakure headband hanging around his head. His circle glasses and Kiseru were the big give away; it was Smoky-sensei. The guards give a large sigh of relief as they approach him to happily greet him into the village. Only five meters away from him they're intercepted by the frighteningly fast Shinobi once again, now trapping Smoky in a tornado of sand.

Annoyed, he manages to toss four Kunai out of the tornado, each having a tag with markings on it. They all create a seal and a absurd amount of wind gushes towards the sky. A faint scream female scream can be heard as a single Shinobi can be seen flying into the air, helpless. The guards both chuckles at the trademark, "Lift Zone Trap," Smoky is known for. Smoky walks out of the barrier and the kunai drop. "So what brings you to Sunagakure? It's rare to see you out of the village, and not even with your team!" asks one of the guards.

He sighs in return, "Yeah, I usually prefer to be lazy during time of peace, but it seems like I can't even have nice things at times. My team right now is recovering from a small sparring match with some Shinobi from Kirigakure. It went a little too far and one member needed time over treatment for the cure. But anyway, you're Kazekage might already know about that. Where's Kenta?" Both the guards look at each other in slight unease. They agree to bring Smoky to him, and guide him through the village.

"In a small village within the land of wind, located more towards the west, was the proud Shirogane Clan's mansion. Within the workshop was the determined head trying to figure out new mechanisms for his, "Masterpiece." The younger children all play with their puppets, only using them as a personal friend rather than talking to the other siblings.

The elderly all talk of the previous wartime, the young adult age group are having the usual brawl and discussion on advanced Puppeteering techniques and preference to mechanisms, and the motherly figures all inside using their mastery of puppets to have a full kitchen of cooks with only three actual people inside. Finally, there is the oh so talented, humorous, prestigious, good-looking, and over all amazing….."

"What are you doing?"

The tall lad in the tree falls as his miniature puppets of five falls to the ground. A blonde haired girl with piercing green eyes stares at him as if she's annoyed. "Sorry Akari, didn't know it was already mission time. Crackin' the whip already?" said the boy. Her glare only makes him feel more uneasy towards what's about to be said to him, but then notices an abundance of sand all throughout her hair and gear. "What happened to yo…..OH! If he's here we need to get going now! I can't miss this!" he screams. She blushes and turns from him, "Let's go already Kabuki, you're making this feel like filler or something."

A small restaurant within Sunagakure, it was relatively quiet, except for a back corner. Smoky can be seen sitting across with a fairly large man, stuffing his face and being fairly obnoxious. Smoky trying his best to intervene in-between the ramblings of the large man known as Kenta, is constantly shut away, until finally he blows a large exhale of smoke into Kenta's face, "Alright, so I know that you caught a glimpse of what happened with the Kiri-kids. What have you told Kazekage about that?" Smoky asks. Kenta sighs, "You know, it's flattering that a fat man, like myself, is considered to be a spy, but.."

"Kenta you bullshitter, you were the ones that dropped the Kiri-kids from my barrier, they told me you were in the air in the first place. And after I saw you snackin' and follwin' me!" Smoky interrupts.

"That's not fair! I was originally there to get some special cuisine from good ol' Konohagakure, but then when I saw Mist Shinobi, especially the water spirit of the east; I had to check into it. It's my sworn duty as an originally comrade to your village. Plus, the battles looked a lot more like fights to the death and less like a sparring match. Indigo nearly was smashed a couple of times, and I can't even imagine the hell that poor little Kuriame took. She's been curled into a ball for nearly a week!" Kenta shoots back.

Smoky sighs and explains the reasoning for the visit, and how he felt the importance of actual battle experience against a ninja is. Kenta apologizes at getting upset over the matter and starts to spill what's going to go on, "Alright, so the Kazekage is actually kinda worried over the matter; so much so, he's called a Kage meeting to happen in two days. The general idea is that there will be all air be cleared, and then what will probably happen to avoid those kind of things looking badly, will be a general ninja tournament." Smoky is actually very pleased with the idea.

He buys a pint of Sake for Kenta at the bar and is about to leave. Just as he turns, he notices a scrawny looking young man with goggles and a rice patty hat. "WHO LET THIS KID DRINK!?" Smoky screams as the boy nearly falls over. The young man actually looks old enough to drink, but the jig was up since he knew who he was. It was the last member of Kenta's team, the, "Western Wonderer of all Shinobi," Hirotoshiro. Kenta, looking embarrassed, helps drag him out of the store. They find waiting at the door are the other two members of the team. Smoky fears the sight of the love struck pixie cut girl, Akari, and uses his Wind release to run out of the village as fast as he can.

She giggles saying, "He's playing hard to get, that lil leaf ninja…." And she begins to bolt after him, both going at speeds that most people won't register. Kenta, overjoyed at the sight of Kabuki, drops Hirotoshiro, "Ah! PERFECT! You can use your puppet jutsu to make him walk while we head to Iwagakure!" confused he attaches chakra strings to the limp body his sensei dropped like a rag doll and asks, "Why would we even head there? What's even going on here? Why did Smoky visit? Also, while I'm questioning EVERYTHING, would it not be better to let the geography philosophizing drunkard here guide us when he comes to?" Kenta simply laughs, pulls out a snack, and begins to float while sitting criss crossed. After totally being ignored, the backpack of Kenta is ripped from the bottom by a chakra string, as all the snacks fall out while he's floating. "That'll teah ya to ignore me fatman." he keeps to himself.


End file.
